A Lost Boy finds a home?
by PhoenixWarrior2900
Summary: Phoenix relives his past as he rots in prison, but will he really be there the rest of his life? A Prequel story to speestergirl96's Freelancer II. Make sure to check her story out.
1. Chapter 1: Memory

**Author notes:  
This is my first story  
It's based off freelancer II by Speestergirl96. I hope you like it**

 _Chapter 1: Memory_

9/15/20XX - 6:00  
Colosseum: Maximum Security Spartan Prison: Location classified  
Asset: Spartan 182  
Name: Hermes XXXXXXX  
Codename: Phoenix

I awake.  
Somehow my body senses it's day time, even without a speck of sunlight for it to go by.  
It's been months since I last saw the light of day, heck maybe it's been years, I don't know. The Colosseum is a large Spartan prison, built for the worst of the worst, Spartan "malfunctions" as they like to call us. It's 9 miles below ground and crawling with military police guarding the place. One way in, NO WAY OUT! and I've been stuck here for what seems like forever, and I'll be here for the rest of forever.  
Here's how it works in the Colosseum, once a day they bring you food to your tiny cell which has barely enough room to sit down and for the next 8 hours you sit in quiet isolation, then they give you 2 hours of exercise in a small one man gym with 2 bottles of water. Then it's back to your cell. That's it. Everyday the same thing. I haven't seen another person in at least a year. That kinda isolation can have a pretty strong emotional effect on a kid barely over the age of 15. And all that time alone gives you a lot of time to think and remember.

It was about 2 years before they locked me up.  
We were sent in to retrieve a UNSC data core stolen by the rebels. A simple mission get in grab the package, get out, and kill anyone who gets in the way. At least, that's what we were told.  
We knew something wasn't right the moment we entered the enemy airspace.  
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!  
Anti-Aircraft fire.  
My partner Weasel began to yell over the Comms  
"What the heck, captain I thought they didn't have anti-aircraft weapons strong enough to hit us at this altitude"

The captain-a boy a year older then me, codename Jaguar- replied angrily  
"They weren't supposed to!"  
He radioed command. " command we have a situation... Command, hello" Static. We had lost communication with command. Something was really wrong.  
Suddenly an explosion to my right  
One of the Falcons had failed to avoid a shot from the AA fire and was headed down.  
"Dang it, there goes our UNSC backup. I guess it's just us boys". The captain yelled.

One of the younger girls  
-Lamb- began to count down our ETA  
"15… 10… 5,4,3,2". The captain began barking orders.  
"Go, Go, Go" watch the..Ahhh"  
He was hit, I dive behind cover, weasel close behind, and look back at Jaguar he had gotten up and behind cover as well.  
"A mere flesh wound Phoenix, I'm fine".  
Then we began to move up the beach under constant fire from turrets and rifles.  
We were moving from cover to cover, it was a long process and we weren't getting far.

"Phoenix, Weasel give us cover fire and take out those turrets".  
We did as we were ordered  
Pretty soon three turret and ten men were disabled or dead and our men had reached the door.  
Weasel and I quickly joined them.  
I looked around and saw my team.  
Me, weasel, jaguar, lamb, Turtle,and Chameleon...  
"Captain, where's Tiger, where's James " Weasel had beat me to the punch. I was expecting the worst, the next words from the captain confirmed my worry.  
"He.. he didn't make it,"  
Lamb spoke up. "There was a grenade. It was gonna kill me, but James, he...he...She couldn't finish.  
Jaguar tried to reassure her "He died a hero Lilly" there was a brief moment of silence. Then the captain continued  
"we need to finish this mission so he doesn't die in vain" under his breath I heard him mutter. "Then I'm gonna have a word with the command".  
Inside the base there was two locked doors that weasel had to open and a bunch of men that the rest of us had to deal with.  
Chameleon was sent off to find the control room and figure out where this data core was hidden, while the rest of us went through the files in the data room.  
30 minutes passed and Chameleon still hadn't returned.  
"Phoenix, Weasel find out what's going on"  
"Yes sir"  
We looked at each other, both Afraid that chameleon had suffered a similar fate to tiger.  
We shook off the thought and ran to the control room.  
5 minutes later and we were there.  
It's quiet and me and weasel creep into the room.  
"Oh my gosh" weasel cried, shocked at the scene in front of us.  
There was blood everywhere.  
And in the middle of the carnage? Chameleon and three Rebels.  
I tried to figure out what was going on  
"What do you think happened here"  
"It looks like they found her... But that can't be, nobody can see her when she's hiding". I could tell he was just as stumped as I was.  
Then I noticed something  
"Wait there's something in her hand, it's the data drive"  
"We should get this to the captain" he suggested

"This can't be, this is the data core but..." He was stumped.  
The core was almost useless  
Except for some info about the main plans for some weapons and vehicles. He continued  
"This is nothing that a team of Spartan should be sent in for".  
Lamb was working on getting the comms up and running, Weasel was off to the side absent-mindedly sharpening his knife, and Turtle was sitting down inspecting his equipment  
We'd already lost two close team members and nobody was taking it well.  
Then lamb shouted  
"Commander they know we're here, they've locked me out" suddenly the wall to my right exploded and several rebels repelled in and began firing at us. We took cover and slowly picked them off.  
But just before we could be at ease another Soldier dropped into the room.  
This one was in Spartan armor and heavily equipped, backed up by several ODST traitors.  
The worst part was we knew him. He was a old "friend". A guy by the name of Mustang.  
The ODST wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for him.  
Weasel attempts a Granada throw but it's blasted out of the air by a riflemen in their group.  
He starts to talk some smack.  
"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than th.." He's cut off when Mustang elbows him in the face.  
"shut up! Just go get the core".  
The men dash at us, giving us little time to act.  
Two pounce on Jag, a couple run at Weasel and Lamb, and three come at Turtle and I.  
I easily kick one away and dodge the second. The third was after Turtle, who quickly fired his shotgun ripping the attacker's armor to shreds.  
We both advance on the remains two, I jump and Turtle slides. The move confuses the ODST just long enough for us to take them down.  
We look around.  
Jag has cut his attackers down easily, and Weasel and Lamb seem to have defeated their attackers as well.  
That left only Mustang.  
Before we can engage him, the room fills with a blinding light. He must have thrown a flare.  
I see movement and hear a quick squeal.  
The light dies down and reveals the cause.  
Mustang has moved to the other end of the room and Lamb is slumped down on her knees in facing us, while Mustang points a gun at her head. Her helmet is smashed and laying on the floor.  
"You got a choice Jag, give me the core or watch as I shear your little sheep". He keeps a grim smile plastered on his stupid face.  
"What do you want with this thing anyway?" Jag must be trying to by some time.  
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you". His mouth curved into a creepy smile. "But I'm gonna have to kill you either way".  
"I'll never give it to someone as sick as you. No matter what's on it"  
Mustang smile quickly fades into anger  
"You FOOL" he fires

his gun.  
Lamb screams out in pain as the bullet enters and exits her left shoulder.  
"GIVE IT TO ME OR ILL KILL HER"  
I look at Jaguar, he knows what he has to do but I know he doesn't like it.  
To my right I see Weasel.  
Turtle is holding him back as he desperately tries to break free  
His face is red.  
His eyes the color of blood.  
Jaguar continues to stall but it's not working  
Mustang becomes more and more furious  
"He shoots at Jag hitting him IN the arm. Jaguar drops the data core and it rolls in between them. Mustang dives but Jag is faster, he kicks the core out the hole in the wall.  
Mustang jumps back up. Furious, he begins to fire his gun. He hits Jag in the knee and he falls, then he turns around to the helpless girl behind him. She tries to get up but can't. He aims and fires  
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Click,  
Click  
Lamb looks up and blood is covering the floor around her,  
Weasel falls to the ground. His armor is torn to bits and blood is spilling out everywhere.  
Mustang drops the pistol and grabs his rifle, determined to finish what he started.  
As he once again aims toward lamb a blade pierces his chest.  
Mustang turns, ripping the sword from Jags hands and charges. Mustang grabs Jaguar and runs him through he throws him to the floor and tries to cut his throat. As a last action before he dies Jag grabs Mustang's ankle and yanks him off the side of the building he tumbles off the edge.  
Falling hundreds of feet to the ground.  
Lamb looks to the broken body of her closest friend.  
The one whom she loved.  
she throws herself over his body and cries.  
I walk over to her and kneel down. Weasel's knife is laying next to him. I retrieve it and Put it in lambs hand.  
"Wha..."  
"He would have wanted you to have it"  
She begins to cry again, and wraps me in a hug.  
Turtle walks over and tells us that he has contacted command and we should get ready to leave.  
"Wait… I uh, need to do something"  
A few minutes later I had gathered up Chameleon, Tiger and Jaguar's body's. Laid out in beside each other, I begin to light the body's of our fallen comrades. Lamb wouldn't let me burn Weasel. She told us that he had asked her to make sure he was buried back at base if something like this had ever happened.  
We take brief moment of silence before heading over to the flare Turtle had dropped to signal our location for pick-up.  
Nobody said anything h until we were back at the base.

Mission success they called it.  
How could the mission have been a success, was that data core really worth the lives of 4 brave soldiers.  
How could they send us in knowing that there wa... My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of opening gates.  
"Spartan 182, how'd you like to get out of this here death camp" A man wearing an ONI uniform says.  
"More than you can possibly imagine, Sir".

 **Author's Notes: I really like the characters I had to kill off - whoops - so i'm writing another story about them. I'll post it too if people want it, or maybe if they dont. I do what i want. Anyway that's the first chapter hope you liked it. Remember to check out speestergirl96's story freelancer II. We'll meet some of her characters next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2: Reassignment

**_Chapter 2: reassignment_ **

It was a surprisingly quick affair to get me out, I guess that's one of the perks of being reassigned by the director I think to myself.  
"2 years" he says randomly  
"What" I ask  
"2 years, that's how long you've been here"  
"Oh, why am I being taken out exactly? Not that I'm not happy to leave"  
"We've found an alternative. I didn't believe it was your fault, so I did my best to find another solution for you". He says and gives me a large smile  
"Oh" I'm not really sure if I should thank him."So about this...uh, alternative solution?"  
"We've recently found an alpha Spartan who we believe is capable of leading a team of misfits, you're one of those misfits.  
"Well, it's a step up from mistake I guess"  
I notice him make a quick expression of hurt on his face. It's brief but it was definitely there.  
"You should arrive by tomorrow, and you're getting your armor and weapons back, Well...a couple of them anyway. He shoots me a small grin and I laugh.  
"Haha. Finally" I say with smile. "Oh,and you'll be joined by an old friend" I jump a little  
"Turtle or Lamb?"  
"Turtle"  
"When?"  
"The Pelicans gathering your new team will meet about halfway there, you will be loaded onto another pelican and put to sleep. The base is very top secret"  
"When do I leave"  
"The Pelican is waiting for you now, my advice stay away from the girl in the red she's kinda mean!"  
"We'll see about that" Spartans are knows to have a general dislike for UNSC and ONI.  
"Over here" he directs me over to a room to my left. It's guarded by 2 UNSC, but they act as though they don't notice us walk in. The room has nothing but a desk occupied by a older man - say 65? - with a door to the right of it.  
The man looks up quickly and nods, then presses a couple buttons on his keyboard. He looks up again and motions for me to go in. I reluctantly obey, entering with caution. Just before I get to the door he hands me a folded paper. In the room is pure heaven to my eyes. The walls are covered with large armor containers. Each with a number above it. Realizing what the paper is I quickly unfold it. 36. I sprint toward my armor and type in my password.

30 minutes later I was "fully equipped" with my armor, rifle and magnum and on my way to the base. I can't say I'm not a little upset they didn't give me my grenade launcher as well but at least I got these two. I head up to the landing pad and see a D77H-TCI pelican waiting for me. The crew chief ushers me quickly in the the passenger bay. He obviously has somewhere to be.  
In the pelican with me is the Spartan that the ONI guy told me about. she said nothing the whole ride.  
I sat in silence wondering where Turtle went after we split up.  
Pretty soon we'd made it to the halfway point and were unloaded.  
I saw him, the last surviving member of my former team, the closest person I had to family.  
I ran to him  
"TURTLE" I cried  
He turned, instantly I saw somethings different in his eyes. What had they done to him.  
I wrap him in a hug and begin asking him questions.  
"Hey, how have you been? where did they take you, man?what they do to you? He looked sad  
"I don't really wanna talk about it, what about you?  
"Not important, what is important is we're on a team together again" we both got quiet, neither of us wanted to talk about that. I quickly change the subject.  
"I wonder who our new leader is?"  
"I heard she was an alpha, do you know how rare they are. Alphas are the only ones that can control a spartan. Most people believe that they have some genetic superiority to other Spartans but actually it's just a name given to Spartans who can get other Spartans to follow them! There's been a few famous ones like Spartan- 117, Spartan-092, Spartan-51... ". His eyes lit up as he was able the spout off information he had about the topic. He was always reading about whatever he could".  
"Ok, Ok. Turtle. TURTLE!" He stops and looks at me confused. "What?"  
"You were ranting again!"  
"I was? Sorry"  
"It's fine, do you know what happened to Lamb?" I've been wondering that for a while  
"Actually, I asked the ONI representative and he said she..."  
A whistle blew cutting Turtle off.  
We both look over at the man who blew it  
"Get in the pelican right over there quickly, takeoff is in T minus 1 minute"  
Me and turtle quickly find our seats at the front of the pelican, our previous conversation forgotten.  
A large man who looks to be about 20 is on my right. He gives me a smile  
"Hello, my name is Bjorn"  
"German for bear right"  
"Correct" he gives me an even bigger smile and a pat on the back. "I like you."  
"Thanks, I'm Phoenix".  
He sticks out his hand and I shake it noting his arm strength.  
I quickly take in the other passengers.  
Besides me, Turtle, and Bjorne there is, a 21 year old male who looks very unhappy to be here sits by the door, and two females who are chatting right across from me and Turtle. One who looks to be 20 the other maybe a couple years older. Looks like me and Turtle are the youngest this time.  
A couple UNSC soldiers go around and give us some shots that they say will put us out in about 30 minutes.  
Across the pelican I see the girl from my pelican.  
"Don't touch me, idiot"  
"Ma'am we have to give you this, directors orders"  
"Go give it to the director"  
She begins fighting him and they have to give her an sedative that puts her out in a couple seconds  
"Dang" I glance over at Bjorn who looks shocked at the scene  
"What"  
"That dose was more then enough to put an elephant to sleep!" He says seriously.  
Turtle and Bjorn begin to talk about other planets and languages. Bjorn seems to really know his stuff, Turtle offering history about the planets wars that took place. After 20 mins Turtle starts looking drained and lays down. Bjorn turns to me with a questioning look.  
"Medicine works really quick on him, great when your sick but uh, not so great when your drugged".  
"I see" He nods as if adding it to his mental database." So, Phoenix".  
"Yeah?" I glance up at the big guy.  
"Do you know anything about the place were going?"  
I shrug "Not really, just that our leader is an alpha".  
"Oh". He looks slightly disappointed "Do you and Turtle know each other?"  
"Yeah, we were on another team together awhile back". He must have realized I did t want to talk about it cause he quickly changed the subject.  
"Know anything about the grouchy guy?" He points toward Grumpzilla in the Corner.  
"Besides that's he kinda creeping me out, No" We both laugh earning us a scowl from Grumpzilla.

Not long after, the girls are out. Even me and the other guy were just about to go, but even as I closed my eyes, Bjorn wasn't looking tired. He's a pretty big guy, maybe they should have given him a second dose.

 **Authors notes: I hope you liked getting to meet a few of the other characters. If you don't know them, go read speestergirl96's freelancer II.**


	3. Chapter 3: Homebound

_Chapter 3: Homebound_

When I finally come to, I realize two things. One, I'm blindfolded. Two, the pelican is descending. Bjorn tells me they didn't want us to wake early and see where we were. (Although I think he was the real worry there. The thud of the pelican against the ground tells us we've landed. 4 UNSC soldiers move to open the bay door but have to back up when the female throws it open.

"Don't break my plane" I hear the pilot yell from the cockpit.  
That voice is so familiar.  
Instead if getting out of the pelican I head to the cockpit.

"Who do we have here... John?"  
He turns startled, not expecting anyone to come up here.

"Wait, Phoenix is that you? Long time no see, man". He pulled me into a bear hug.

"They didn't tell me you were out pilot!" I say as I finally get free of his crushing arms

"They didn't tell me you were one of my passengers, where have you been, man? After the incident I didn't hear from you for what? 2 years?

"Yeah, I was a little preoccupied with prison and stuff".

"PRISON?!" I hear one of the soldiers step up onto the pelican

"Yeah it's a long story, anyway I uh gotta go, they'll be missing me if I don't." I start to leave then remember something. "Hey that girl you were dating, what happened to her?" He smiles.

"We're married now, got us a little boy! his 1st birthday is coming up in a month"

"Oh wow dude, congratulations! Ok I really do have to leave. Hey, if you can pull some strings, come out here as often as possible will ya?" He shouts his farewells as the man guides me toward the base. We run to rejoin the group and barely catch up as they enter the base. Just Inside the soldiers remove our blindfolds and exit without a word. Looking around I discover the interior was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. There was a kitchen, a commons room with a TV, a hall filled with rooms(dorms?), and another hall that broke into two more rooms and a staircase. Turtle is eying the TV, the girls are doing their regular chatting, Bjorn is watching the Red female, and Grumpzilla is doing his usual grumpy stuff.  
I on the other hand, am checking out what appears to be a weapons rooms to the left of the TV.  
I wonder what they have here, maybe BR55's, M45 Tactical Shotguns, System 99-Series 5 Sniper Rifles or... Bjorn elbows me and I snap to attention as a Female Spartan approaches, probably the commander.  
"I am your commanding officer, Alpha Wolf... You may call me Wolf, Commander, or Sir" She has this voice that is calm, yet full of authority. No wonder she is an alpha. "Each of you will state your code name, what you bring to this team, and one thing you believe I need to know about you"

As she finished talking the scary one stepped forward and spoke.  
"My code name is Lynx, I'm a sniper, and I work alone"  
Ah she has a name.

Next is my big buddy. He's got sage green armor with a red secondary.  
"I am Bear, I am a language expert, and I am from Germany, planet earth"  
Earth! What nobody is ever from earth. I'll definitely have to ask him about it. Suddenly I'm shoved to the side as the older chatterbox pushes me out of her way. Her armor is teal and orange.

"I'm Fox because I'm foxy". Her grin kinda creeps me out. "My special skills are medical know how, for when one of you idiots hurt yourselves... One thing you need to know about me?" She thinks about it for a moment."Ah! I'm single and ready to mingle" The commander looks a little confused, probably wondering if that was a joke or not.

To my right Turtle raises his hand. His armor is blue and red. The Commander addresses him.

"Yes?"

"My name is Turtle, I'm good with maps, and I have Aspergers" Huh I didn't know that last one. Guess it just doesn't come up in conversation. Realizing it's my turn I begin to grin. Time for the show. Dramatically I bow. Then look up to speak.

"I'm Phoenix, I know weapons, and I am a prankster" I wasn't super big on pranks with my old team, but there was always the occasional prank war between me and Jaguar. This could be my chance to be the ultimate prank King.

"You, candy cane" Wolf points to the younger of the two chatterboxes behind me. Her armor is red and white "Name, skill, important info"

"Me?" She turns around to face the Commander, she suddenly seems a lot more nervous. "Umm... I'm Fawn, I'm good with cars and vehicles, and I tend to be a little clumsy" Cars and Clumsiness.  
Got a little bit of alliteration going for her at least.

I look over at Grumpzilla and see him staring at the wall. I doubt the commander will let that fly.

"Hey loner, your turn" Nope she didn't.

He looks over at her with challenging eyes and she stares back. I chuckle as he backs down, but am cut off by a strong elbow the the stomach. Bjorn must be enjoying seeing him have to listen to someone.

Hawk, I'm a jack of all trades and master of none" he glances around the everybody "I don't do teams". Well he's gonna die.

See was that so hard?" An A.I. suddenly appears inches from Turtle, who jumps a foot in the air and ducks behind Bjorn.

Sorry if I scared ya" The female A.I apologizes.

"This is Hestia". Wolf introduces her. "She is our AI, but she is also a member of the team and will be treated with respect" I don't have a problem with that. We didn't have an A.I at our last base but when we did come in contact with one Jaguar made sure they were respected. "Hestia will show you your rooms. Meet in here in one hour" Wolf turns and exits the room.

Hestia begins leading two people to a room at a time. First Fawn and Fox. Of course. They'll be great roommates. Next she takes Bjorn and Hawk. Hmm not so great, I don't know if they'll get along very well. When's she come back she takes Turtle and I to the last room on the 2nd room on the left. A little bit later I hear Lynx and Hestia walk past our room. Seems like she'll get her own room, probably for the best. I doubt she'd like to spend a ton of time with either of the chatty duo. Although, she seems nicer when she doesn't hate you, like she does with the UNSC.

I take in my new room. It was fairly cosy. Two beds, storage for clothes and belongings, and two armor pods to store our armor (if we ever take it off). I sit in the side of the bed and find it to be quite comfortable. memory foam. Turtle heads over to the maps on the wall of all the different colonies held by the UEG. My watch reads 12:49 and we have to back in the commons room by 1:30. Plenty of time to go check out the weapons vault. I sprint out of the room and around the corner. I see Bjorn heading to the kitchen. He waves and I wave back but continue toward my objective. Once inside I find it to be more than I imagined. Walls filled with all kinds of things. I started making a list of what we had.

-50 M6H PDWS (Magnums)

-48 MA37's (Assault Rifles)

-36 M20 PDW-M7S variant (SMG's)

-24 M395 Designated Marksman Rifles (DMR's)

-18 M45D Tactical Shotguns

-10 M41 SPNKR's (Rocket Launchers)

-10 System 99-Series 5 Anti-Material Sniper Rifles

-3 M343A2 Miniguns (mounted machine guns)

There was off course dozens of fragmentation Grenades as well but I was not gonna count all of them, plus there was some stuff I was unfamiliar with. A piece of technology that was rectangular in shape and had a green glowing ring on the top. Picking it up I can tell it's very light weight.

"Hey it time to go". Bjorn had leaned into the room. "Whatcha got there?"

"I don't know... Well I guess I'll look into it more later." I set the device on a small table and follow Bjorn into the commons.

 **Author's notes: I had a ton of writing time so here's the next chapter. So do you guys know what the new piece of equipment is? NO? Well don't worry i'll explain in the next chapter. We're now running side by side with Freelancer II. So to get Wolf's POV go check it out. Chapter 4 should be out soon. I'm mostly done writing if. I'm not sure how far I want to go with this story, I might only write a few more chapters or a ton more.**


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